In another illustration of the industry’s evolution, Baton Rouge La.-based Skyhawk Security, which offers remote video monitoring, IP camera systems and access control systems for commercial customers (most in Louisiana, but some as distant as California), acquired local IT firm Big Networks. With the purchase of the firm’s assets and intellectual property, the Skyhawk Group (the name of the merged company) will have an in-house IT unit to supplement its security offerings.

The move establishes an interesting hybridized security company in the Louisiana capital. Brett Lofton, one of three managing members with Skyhawk, said the acquisition, in addition to bringing in an “in-house IT decision maker,” also presents some major cross-selling opportunities, particularly with respect to some of the clients the company inherited through the Big Networks buy.

Lofton said some of these accounts could potentially be a boon to Skyhawk’s security business. “We’ll certainly be cross-selling and trying to get in front of them to talk about [our security offerings],” Lofton noted, adding that this applies especially to companies with guards—customers who could find the security services palatable. Commercial customers may find value in the prospect of replacing or supplementing nightshifts with video monitoring, Lofton said.

Skyhawk also plans to explore cross-selling its hosted access control service, which Lofton believes is gaining traction. It will be interesting to follow what kind of role video monitoring and access control play in the company’s primary near-term plan: organic growth—much of which could be fueled by business in its own backyard. Stay tuned for more on Skyhawk’s plans and near-term goals in Louisiana and beyond.